With Little to No Help From Friends
by Sarah Jo Dantess
Summary: James still likes Lily, and he's miserable. Lily likes James but thinks he doesn't like her anymore, and she's miserable. And good friends go to great lengths - well, inefficient and long-winded lengths, that is - to make their friends happy again, isn't that right? Rated T for references to language, mild language, and references to adult content.


**Author's Note:** I got the inspiration for this story from "Stupid Friends" by Danielle218! I loved the plot of James and Lily not knowing the other likes them, so I decided to do my own take on it! Thanks Danielle218 for inspiring me! :) **Disclaimer:** The plot is nothing new, except how I chose to have it acted out. All the names, characters, places, typicalities, etc. belong to the genius that is J.K. Rowling, who has blessed this Earth with her brilliance. Enjoy!

* * *

It was getting more and more difficult for her to take her eyes off of him. Especially, Merlin forbid, during a Quidditch match. She marveled at the wind catching his already windswept-looking hair as he sped up and down the pitch on his broom at the speed of a bullet. At least, Lily reasoned, her observation wasn't as noticeable, because now everyone was watching him, and she wasn't the only one. Paranoia still convinced her that if someone noticed her staring, they'd find it odd, since the Gryffindor chasers didn't always have the quaffle.

She reassured herself that James was a fine enough player that he was always going after whoever did have the quaffle, and he'd eventually have it to himself or give it to a teammate. Really, it was just better to watch him so she didn't miss out on anything important in the match.

Not that she was complaining. Most people who'd ever looked at him wouldn't dream of complaining about having the opportunity to stare without being caught. He was easily one of the most attractive boys of the seventh years, with a few close ties that all depended on one's personal preference.

Lily only broke her stare at his broad, strong shoulders when she thought of how uncomfortable it made her anytime someone stared at her. She vaguely wondered if that was why staring was considered rude and an invasion of privacy when Hestia Jones nudged her with her elbow and cheered.

"Ow! Hest!"

"Sorry, Lil. But Spinnet's taken back the quaffle! He's passing it to Potter now! OH, SHI—never mind! Potter's caught it!" Lily had to laugh at her animated friend's commentary of the game. She should replace that bloke named Jordan, or better, McGonagall should let them collaborate as co-announcers. Lily grinned to herself at the thought of the hilarity that would ensue. She was interrupted again by Hestia's squeals, and her other friend, Dorcas, joining in on Hestia's loud, one-sided discussion of the game. Another elbow in her side.

Lily frowned and rubbed her rib cage. Merlin, her friends liked sports too much if they were willing to risk the health of their beloved redhead. Subtly, she shoved her elbow into Hestia's armpit when James scored.

 _"Eeeeep!"_ Hestia squeaked, half-tickled, half-pained, mostly uncomfortable. "Jeez, Lily," she said, growing at her friend. "You needn't take this game so seriously!"

Lily sighed, defeated.

A half hour, several goals, and one caught snitch by Gryffindor later, the group of students descended onto the field to cheer for their teammates. No one would question why she was trying to get so close to James if it was under the pretense of congratulations, Lily maintained. With a sigh of defeat, she watched as he was swallowed up by fangirls, paying no attention to her, as usual. She squeezed out of the crowd and waited for Hestia, Dorcas, Marlene, Mary, and Alice.

Why should he pay any attention to her? Of course, she said, he hadn't asked her out in over a year. They were good friends now, and that was all they would be.

She had rejected him, how many, maybe at least a thousand times? (She'd counted after it began to become a habit.) He must have gotten the idea. The last time he asked her out was the incident at the lake. After that, he barely talked to her and tried to avoid her eye for the first half of the first term of sixth year. Only under the manipulation of Remus and Sirius, and, she was glad to say, some of her girl friends, had they managed to become friends just before Christmas that year. Since then, it had been easy between the two of them. They ate meals together, laughed together, did schoolwork together, even cried together on a few occasions. Then the summer before seventh year, they'd gotten the opportunity to be together among friends a couple of times.

And that was when something terrible happened.

Lily had realized that she really did like him.

Every time he looked at her closely, she was swallowed up by those soft pools of hazel, and the bits of gold in them. When she was around him, she felt warm, safe, comfortable, free to be herself. Everything was easy, the way she knew it was supposed to be.

The only problem with that was that there was no possibility that he liked her anymore. She'd seen him move on, date other girls. He'd even told her he was so glad she was his "friend," with more emphasis on the word than would ever be necessary. Lily plastered on a fake smile at that, and returned his sentiment.

But the worst of all was at a pizza and pool party that summer. Sirius joked about the two of them getting together, wondering if one of their babies would be redheaded, to which James laughed and clapped Lily on the shoulder, like one of the guys, and said, "Me and Lily? Ha! Good one, Padfoot!" Lily had laughed weakly and excused herself to the pizza.

Now, it was even worse to be so close to James, since they had been chosen as Head Boy and Head Girl. She didn't know how many times she'd be able to handle James sitting so close to her, close enough for her to smell his hint of cologne, as they wrote up patrolling schedules for the prefects or tabulated house points. She wasn't certain she could pass by so many broom closets with James walking so closely to her as they patrolled late at night in the dimly lit, romantic hallways of the castle without bloody pulling him into a closet and getting on with it.

At night, she dreamed of what it would be like to kiss him or be his girlfriend. She was glad they had the Heads' dorm to themselves only because her friends wouldn't find her crying her eyes out randomly before she went to sleep. She told herself she was being stupid, and over a boy, no less. But she thought of how many times James might have felt the way she now did, and she felt even worse.

She'd missed her chance, she knew, and now the whole year was going to be painful.

Her friends did notice, however, the empty look in her eyes that lingered. They noticed she slumped so much more than usual, and, though she kept her grades high to distract herself from thinking of him, she'd lost much of her enthusiasm for her classes. More and more, they observed, she'd pull away from any situation without warning, and have a look of utter disappointment on her face.

Lily dragged her feet on the way back to the common room until her friends distracted her enough from thinking about James. For the first time, Hestia was certain she'd seen a quick change in Lily's mood. Lily went from less than enthusiastic to her usual happy self in just a few minutes after she'd been drawn into conversation with them.

But what could have her so down in the dumps? Gryffindor had won the match, after all. It must be something class-related, Hestia reasoned. Lily never cared about much else. Or maybe she'd read a bad book that had upset her? No, that couldn't be it.

* * *

She didn't figure it out until that night. All the of-age wizards had set out to the Hogsmeade bars that night for a celebration. The girls found themselves in The Three Broomsticks Pub, and Sirius was buying all the ladies their drinks of choice. Lily, aware that she should be careful but still wanting to have a bit of fun, placed her order with Madam Rosmerta.

"Gin, please. Whatever you've got."

"Oooohhh, Evans! Let's hope you've got a high tolerance! Oi, everyone!" Sirius announced to their group, "Evans is getting daring with her drinking!" Lily laughed and wrapped an arm around his neck, too tightly, on purpose.

"Best not get your hopes up that you'll get lucky with me tonight, Black! I've got an unbreakable tolerance, I'll have you know," she said as he wriggled out of her grasp and caught his breath.

"Damn," he said wistfully. "I'll just leave you to James, then. Be a pity for you to go your whole life and not share with one of us." Lily smacked him on the arm, and he cackled. "I'm kidding, Evans. No other blokes in this place are worthy of you! Except, maybe Peter." Lily's mouth dropped open as she continued to hit him, while he laughed like a twelve-year-old. "Drink up," he said, lifting his glass as Lily took her drink from Rosmerta and clinked it with his, then they drank. A lot.

A while later they all found themselves dancing. Hestia chanced a look when James sauntered over to Lily and dragged her to the dance floor. Their dance moves were bloody awful, but they seemed to be getting pretty close. Lily cheered as James broke out a completely original move, and made to grab his hand.

At that moment, however, a tall, blonde Ravenclaw, who also happened to be very pretty, tapped James on the shoulder and began dancing with him. James gladly welcomed the attention, and turned around to the girl without looking back.

The crestfallen, crushed expression on Lily's countenance said it all. Hestia nearly squealed in surprise.

Lily liked James! She wanted to laugh, tell her friend that she'd told her so, that all of them had, except she knew now was the time to distract Lily, who didn't think anything of it when Hestia dragged her back to the bar and begged Sirius to buy them shots.

Firewhiskey down both of their throats, Hestia and Lily stuck together the rest of the night. Hestia entertained Lily with the others and even personally escorted Lily to her dormitory, mostly because the Head Girl had drunk a little too much to get the Head Boy out of her thoughts.

* * *

Sunday morning, Lily was with Hestia in the Gryffindor common room, drinking headache potion after headache potion.

"Merlin," Lily mumbled, "Thanks for getting me home last night, Hest. I didn't realize how gross this hangover would be. How much did I drink?" Hestia rubbed her own sore head.

"I have no clue, Lil. I wasn't quite coherent, either. I can't believe I managed to get you back to your room at all."

"Well, we're here now, aren't we?" Lily said positively, and the two sipped their hot teas.

The Marauders walked by, and the two girls glanced up as they passed. "Evans. Jones," Sirius barked in greeting. Seriously, how was he not hungover? More importantly, how was it that he could always act so much like a puppy around people?

James looked at Lily briefly and nodded at her. She did the same, his rejection from last night still a fresh pain in her chest. As soon as he looked away, she looked downcast. The Marauders went up to the seventh year boys' dorms, and Hestia spoke when they were out of earshot.

"You like him," she said to Lily.

Lily, caught off guard by her question, automatically denied it. "What? No way, we're friends." She _was_ telling the truth, after all. They were friends, and there was no way her and James would ever get together.

"Ha! Your face is sinking!" Hestia pointed out. Lily almost spit out her tea. Coughing, she tried to explain herself, but Hestia was already talking. "Lily, please. I know you like him. I saw your face last night after he went to dance with that other girl. You haven't been yourself at all lately. I just put two and two together this week when I realized that you get sad every time James gives you any form of rejection. You like him! Tell me it isn't true."

Lily couldn't believe even her best friend had guessed so correctly. She looked around the common room. Sensing too many people around, she grabbed Hestia by the wrist and dragged her up to the seventh-year girls' dormitory, to Hestia's four-poster bed, and pulled the curtains shut.

 _"Muffliato."_ Lily cast the spell and talked. "Fine," she said. "I like him. I have for a while. You told me so. Happy?"

Hestia was. She grinned and nodded like a bobblehead, crushing Lily in a hug. She pulled back and held her by the shoulders. "This is so exciting, Lily! It's finally happening! You two are finally getting together!" she prattled. Lily shook her head. "Why not?" Hestia asked.

"He doesn't like me anymore, Hestia," Lily sighed sadly, pulling her knees up to her chin. "He's been seeing other girls, he's told me how glad he is that we're just friends - he's over me, Hestia. He moved on and now it's too late." Lily didn't really want to talk about the subject anymore, as she was getting sadder talking about it. However, she had to admit that it felt wonderful to finally be able to talk about it, with Hestia no less, someone who knew her well and someone she trusted. She continued to complain about various encounters with James that signaled to her that his crush was long gone.

Hestia, however, wanted to smack Lily up the back of her head as she listened to her. What was she thinking?! It was absolutely ludicrous that she could think James didn't like her. Everyone knew it. Not only that, but Hestia had solid intelligence on the matter. She and Peter had been good friends since their beginning year at Hogwarts, and she often studied with him and Remus. Thanks to Hestia's never-ending directness and constant questioning other people, plus Remus and Peter's recognizing that James's crush wasn't exactly a secret, Hestia had the entire story.

The truth was that James sort of _had_ given up on Lily. Pursuit of her, that was. Not his feelings. Peter guessed that he'd simply been holding them back, convinced that Lily could never feel the same way despite the good friendship they now had.

"He's hopeless," Remus had added, saying that James had even talked about her in his sleep on multiple occasions.

But Lily couldn't know that, Hestia realized. She never spoke to anyone about her relationship with James, and no one asked her, since, they all assumed, though they were now friends, she'd still never go out with him. Knowing she couldn't convince Lily of James's feelings, Hestia simply told her not to give up hope, and decided that something needed to be done so that this whole business could be sorted out and everyone would be happy.

* * *

"Lily!" James called, sprinting out of Defense Against the Dark Arts to catch up to her where she'd stopped and now stood laughing at his out-of-control running form and running face. "Lily," he said, out of breath when he caught up to her.

"James," Lily said, laughing. "Hi?"

"Hi," he said, catching his breath. "You didn't wait for me," he said, sounding disappointed.

"Oh, sorry," Lily apologized. "I didn't know we had an agreement on that."

"Of course we do! We're the Heads of the school. We have to monitor everything together like the unstoppable team we are!" he said as they started walking.

"So we have to monitor lunch hour?" Lily asked doubtfully. James faltered, then spoke most emphatically.

"Especially lunch hour."

Lily chuckled. "Because who but us would keep everyone from getting a date to Hogsmeade, right?" James laughed.

"Exactly. So who are you going with to this one?"

"Me? Oh, I don't know. No one's asked me. If they don't, I'll probably just go with my friends. What about you? Are you going to ask anyone? A girl or a friend or something?" Lily prodded. _Please get the hint, please get the hint, please get the hint,_ she willed silently.

"Just going with the lads, I guess. Probably hit Zonko's and all the fun stuff."

"Oh," Lily said, trying to keep the sound of defeat out of her tone. "That sounds like fun."

"As long as Pete doesn't plaster his food all over our table. Granted, we all eat as much as he does, but it actually gets in our stomachs, if you know what I mean," he chattered, grimacing. Lily forced a smile and tried to keep up with what he was saying, but this new rejection was very much at the front of her mind.

At lunch, she decided after that that it didn't matter what Hestia had said about not giving up hope. She had literally given him a chance to ask her out and he hadn't taken it. There was definitely no chance in hell that he had any feelings for her.

What she didn't know was that James _had_ gotten the hint. Kind of. He kept wondering if she was actually trying to get him to ask her out, but for the past two years he'd taken Remus' advice after the lake incident to not ask Lily out any more. But things had been different back then. She'd hated him, and they were friends now. Surely it wouldn't have been so bad to ask her to go with him, even as a friend? In the end, James decided against bringing up the subject again. Their friendship was important to him, and he wasn't keen on messing it up after all it had taken to get them this far. But he couldn't decide what she'd been trying to do. If she'd been trying to drop a hint, well, he could be more hopeful. He'd not lost his feelings for her, by any means. But if she hadn't been trying to get him to ask her out, then he'd ruin the friendship by acting on it. The trouble was that he didn't know what had just happened.

* * *

"Peter!" Hestia said loudly, running down the dormitory steps, and spotting Peter in the common room with his three counterparts. That was an issue, Hestia realized suddenly as she glimpsed James. She'd been planning on telling Peter right away what she'd learned, but she definitely couldn't now.

"Yeah?" Peter asked as Hestia walked up to them and their game of Wizard's Chess.

Lamely, Hestia blurted out, "What are you doing?" She smacked herself mentally. As if she couldn't see they were playing Wizard's Chess, blimey.

The boys looked at her dumbly as if they were thinking the exact same thing. Hell, they probably were.

"Um…we're playing Wizard's Chess," Peter said obviously. Awkward.

"Of course," Hestia muttered, feeling like an idiot. "Um…when you get a chance, I need to talk to you." Might as well be a little productive, she decided.

"Sure," said Peter.

 _"Ooooooh_ , she wants to _'talk'_ to you, Pete," Sirius said, clapping Peter on the shoulder. "Way to go, Wormy!" Hestia looked at Sirius, disgusted. Seriously, why was he always teasing her? And why did she always accidentally use the word his first name went with in all puns about him whenever she was around him?

"Bloody hell, Black. You really need to get your mind out of the gutter one of these days. It's highly unattractive," she said, shaking her head and walking away.

"Then how did you know what I was thinking if my mind is the only one in the gutter?" Sirius called after her. She didn't turn around and waved her hand at him as she got to the stairs and went up. He could really be so annoying sometimes, if a tad cute. Ugh!

That night, Hestia had managed to snag Sirius, Remus, Peter and some of her friends away to a corner in the common room, as Lily and James had a meeting with Professor McGonagall.

"Soooo, why are we here?" Dorcas asked, as Marlene loudly complained of a homework assignment she hadn't finished. Hestia rolled her eyes and made sure no one else was around before loudly saying,

"Lily fancies James."

* * *

As much as James knew he shouldn't try to impress Lily, sometimes he couldn't help it. Somehow he always felt his funniest around her.

They patrolled the halls late one night and he was on a roll. Lily couldn't even stand up straight without the help of the wall from laughing so much. As he finished his impression of Professor Slughorn going on and on about bezoars, Lily wiped her tears and kept herself from collapsing onto the stone floor. _"Jaaaaaaaaaamessssss,"_ she whined, grabbing her sides, "I dare you to do that in class one day. To Slughorn's face."

"To his face? Why, Lily, I would never accidentally get myself expelled!" James faked offense.

"Just intentionally, right?" Lily offered, grinning.

"Precisely, my lady." Lily laughed.

"All right. Behind his back, then."

"Now, that can be arranged," James said happily. Lily chuckled as they finished patrols and entered the Heads' dorm. "So, what do you day we get started on scheduling the prefects and the next Hogsmeade visit?" Lily nodded.

"Sure," she said, "I'm not tired at all. Laughter torture tends to have that effect."

"That and unspeakable admiration for the person who made you laugh, of course," James said cheekily.

"Yes, so admirable a person I can't even tell you," Lily deadpanned. James faked shock. He put a hand to his chest and gasped.

"Lily!" She, on the other hand, could not be more pleased with herself and laughed. "See if I ever offer to help you with our shared Heads' duties again!"

"You can't resist," Lily said as she pulled the list of prefects off the shelf and brought it to their table.

"Working? Of course I can resist. You, on the other hand," he said, sighing in dramatic defeat as he sat in the chair opposite her, "no one can resist. Have you got some secret powers we don't know about? Are you a Legilimens? Are you so good at Occlumency that you can actually control another person's thoughts?"

Lily smirked. "You wish."

James laughed and they started to schedule the next month of prefect patrols. "Look here," James said, leaning way too close to Lily for her brain not to fog up with his cologne, and also to show her his half of the schedule. "Barlow's here, and Dorn is here, but it looks like they'd be a better fit there," he said, motioning to various spots on the page. He looked up at her and tried to stay focused on his breathing. It was difficult though, with her sitting so close to him. Should he be testing the waters like this? He knew she didn't detest him, and probably even liked him a little bit from the way she'd found him so funny earlier. But was he getting his hopes too high up?

"Hmm…" Lily trailed off, quietly inhaling his scent. She dared to look up to look him in the eyes and was alarmed by how close he was. "Uh…well," she said as he stared at her for a moment before looking back down at the paper. He knew this situation would lead to something else if she didn't say something soon. He was starting to feel what might not be a real attraction between them too strongly. He willed her to say what she was thinking silently.

She collected her thoughts again and pointed to another prefect's name. "Hanna's got nothing on the twentieth. What about putting him with Barlow? See." James leaned away as if she was catching on fire. He told himself again that he wasn't risking his friendship with her for what might not happen between them. But what if it still did? James thought if they kept dancing around this for much longer, then something would have to be done about it, or he would just have to give up. He should ask her what she thought. Or not, because he actually had something to lose this time. He held the paper close to his face.

"Yes," he nodded, "I see what you're saying. That's a better idea." He busied himself by scribbling the names next to each other, cursing himself mentally. Finally they managed to finish up the schedule and both went off to bed. James said good-night to Lily and went to his room, lying on his bed for at least another hour, unable to distract himself from the girl sleeping only a few feet away from him.

It was getting impossible to be around her without his feelings trying to take over. It wasn't healthy for him to not be doing something about it. What if he exploded and died? The reason for his death would be his feelings, then. What a way to go. He wondered if Sirius would cry at his funeral. No, he'd have to die in a more dramatic and day-saving way.

James sighed. He just couldn't help it anymore. After the incident at the lake in fifth year, a mature part of him had finally emerged and seen how much he had been making Lily's life miserable. If there was still any chance with her, he figured, that wasn't the best way to go about it, considering she hadn't responded well for five whole years.

Avoiding talking to her had been less than fun. Even though their fights before had made them both miserable, James couldn't deny the slight enjoyment he got out of it. Not out of causing Lily pain, but something that felt like they were bonding through their squabbles, as messed up as that sounded. When he stopped pestering her, he missed talking to her. Thanks to his friends, though, they'd been able to call a truce. From there, they'd had a shaky friendship, but by the end of sixth year, it was almost a given that whenever everyone was hanging out, they'd be together for most of it.

He smiled as he thought of all the memories they now shared. He'd been able to control his feelings before, when they were just friends. Now, they were still just friends, but they had to work closely together almost every day. That was the tough part. Having to be around her and no one else so much made it difficult to keep his mind on anything else but her.

It was too hard not to glance up from his work every now and then to chance a peek at her nose scrunching up when she was concentrating, or her eyebrows furrowing when she was really trying to think through something. She really was so pretty. No one ever questioned how special and beautiful her hair was, and her eyes - well, that was another story entirely. But physical beauty was just that. It didn't help that her kindness and convictions extended to her love of life, and her confidence and sense of purpose encompassed everything she did. Also, someone you always had fun with usually ended up high on the list of people you liked, and he always felt better after being around her.

James sighed and tried to go to sleep. It was hopeless, he knew. There was no way she'd ever return his feelings. Yes, she'd only made that clear two years ago, and things had changed, but it couldn't be possible…could it?

* * *

After the initial shock, or rather, that sweet feeling of having seen something coming, a plan was hatched. Perhaps, the friends reasoned, the more James and Lily were left alone together, the more they would realize that they both felt the same way about one another.

The first attempt at this plan had failed rather miserably - trying to leave them alone to study after hours was nothing but silent concentration on homework, and, of course, individual concentration on Head duties. Sirius peeked out of his dormitory door, and, seeing the pair not even speaking, snagged James's invisibility cloak, got on his broom to avoid the sliding stairs on the girls' side, and went to the seventh-year girls' dormitory to complain to Hestia. Hestia and the girls and Sirius, an interesting sight, all sat around and thought of a new plan, until Sirius barely escaped and made it back to the boys' dorms before Lily entered her dorm and James entered his.

The original plan was still to leave them alone - but this time in a different place. They stuck them together at the dinner table between all of them for at least a week and a half before they realized that wasn't working, because they were still surrounded by their friends. The next weekend they ditched them in the Hogsmeade shops and spent the entire day hiding from them. It sort of worked - until James' teammates showed up at the Three Broomsticks and Lily had to share him.

This left Lily even more disappointed, Hestia distinguished, as Lily came back from Hogsmeade and immediately flopped on Hestia's bed and sighed with frustration. She then did her homework - on a Saturday. Lily was a studious person and they all knew it, but she had established a rule in fifth year: no homework on Saturdays. Why? The balance of her life was being interrupted and she was making herself crazy by only stuffing school into her mind. So for Lily to now do homework on a Saturday meant she definitely didn't want to think about her social life.

After that, she'd excused herself to the Heads' dorm, where she listened to sad songs on her Muggle record player and tried to focus on her Transfiguration essay. She didn't even ask James for help with this one. He was fantastic at Transfiguration. She didn't answer when Hestia knocked on the portrait hole. When Hestia did see Lily later that night, she knew she'd been crying, and asked if there had been any news from Petunia. Lily shook her head. Hestia immediately deduced that the problem was James. At dinner, she deliberately didn't sit next to him.

* * *

Lily seemed to feel better by lunch the next day. She laughed and talked with her friends, including James. Halfway through lunch, however, the mail owls flew in and one dropped a letter onto Lily's sandwich. She opened it apprehensively, seeing it was from home. After reading it for a few moments, she got up and walked quickly from the table, despite them all calling after her. James speedily got up and followed her. He barely caught her as she entered the Heads' dorm. He went in after her.

"Lily!" James found her pacing in the common room, with tears in her eyes. "Lily? What's wrong?" he pleaded. She huffed and shook her head, the tears falling. Swiftly, she handed him the letter as a short sob escaped her throat.

"Read it," she whimpered.

James skimmed over the letter from Lily's sister with careful eyes. She was getting married - didn't expect you to be happy for me - Mum made me write this - no way I'm having you in my wedding - you're always jealous of me - don't bother writing back - you have to sit in the back of the church - don't bring anyone - freak...

"Oh, Lily…" James looked up from the letter to see Lily covering her mouth and nose with her hand, the other hugging herself tightly.

"I hate her," she muttered, muffled. James wrapped his arms around her and held her head against his shoulder.

"No, you don't," he whispered as she cried softly. "It isn't fair that she's treating you this way. You love her and she does love you, whether or not she'll admit it."

Lily stopped crying after a moment and wrapped her arms around James. "James," she sighed, "thanks."

He rested his chin on her hair. "Anytime." He knew he shouldn't, but he allowed himself to inhale the scent of her honey shampoo. It was intoxicating. He knew he needed to pull away before he did anything else.

He held her in front of him by her shoulders and looked at her squarely. "Now, are you all right?"

She nodded hesitantly. "Yes," she said, wiping her face dry and stepping back from him. It confused her too much when he did things like this. Had he really moved on? Or could he still like her? She was too afraid to find out.

* * *

That night, Lily ranted about it to Hestia. "Doesn't he know he shouldn't tease people like that? I mean, sure, it was a nice gesture and we're friends, and that's what friends do, but Merlin! I'm going to implode if I have to smell him ever again!" Lily was being an emotional wreck, she knew, but she was also PMSing, which, she knew, caused her to be more emotional than usual. However, though she expressed them more dramatically, her emotions were always telling of some underlying thing that troubled her.

Hestia got off her bed and went over to Lily. "Then why won't you just tell him how you feel? You know he's been in love with you since we were eleven!" Dorcas, Marlene, Mary and Alice echoed their sentiments. Lily figured it hadn't taken them long to figure out how she felt. She had no idea that Hestia had informed them and that they were plotting with her. It was easy to believe otherwise, since they just pretended to have known all along.

"Lily, we all know he likes you. The entire school knows it. Why can't you see it?" Alice asked.

"He hasn't said anything about it," Lily offered lamely. The other girls fussed at her.

"That's a bullshit reason and you know it, Lily. Of course he hasn't said anything about it! You two are friends now. Why would he be so careless as to ruin it? This is the closest he's ever gotten to you. If he really cares about you, he won't say anything unless you outright tell him it's okay," Mary ranted.

"Well I'm not going to do that! What if he rejects me?" Lily whined. The girls groaned. This was useless. The subject was dropped, and Lily went off with Dorcas and Marlene to the library to study. Hestia, Mary and Alice decided to hang out in the common room.

Peter and Sirius were coming down the stairs as they arrived. They looked flustered. Sirius walked over to Hestia and shook his head. "Nothing is working," he said, lowering his voice. "Remus is up there now trying to convince James to ask out Lily. It's no use. We already tried."

Hestia sighed. "What's his deal?"

"He came to the room complaining about being so close to Lily and not being able to do anything about it. He figures he'll have to eventually, but he doesn't want to ruin their friendship," said Peter.

"That's what I've been telling Lily! Merlin, this whole thing is such a mess now! What else can we possibly do?" Hestia groaned.

"So much has happened regarding this in the last week, guys. I say we just leave it alone and don't ask about it for a bit. Maybe something will happen on its own," Mary suggested. Tired of dancing around the issue with their respective counterparts, the friends all agreed.

"Perhaps we should just stop butting into their business. Something's bound to happen eventually," Alice said.

* * *

Unfortunately, something _did_ happen, and not the something anyone was wanting to happen. At the Hogsmeade visit two weeks later, Lily showed up to meet her friends at the Three Broomsticks - with Roger Leigh. Hestia pulled her aside while everyone was talking.

"What's this?" she asked, pointing her head toward Roger.

Lily giggled. "Well, I've been helping him with Potions, and he's really sweet, so he asked me to come here with him. This is good, Hestia!" she said all of a sudden, noticing her friend was less than happy. "I can get over Potter this way," she whispered, as if Hestia didn't already deduce this.

"Lily, please, I _beg_ you to reconsider," Hestia began. Lily crossed her arms.

"And why? So I can walk round like a rejected, moping idiot all the time?"

"You never even told him how you felt!"

"It was pointless! He'd not have returned my feelings, Hestia! We've been over this!"

Hestia heard the frustration in her voice and knew this wasn't the way to go about this. She prodded Lily toward Roger. "You're right. Have a good time with Roger. But _don't_ snog him. He's not even that cute. You can do better." Lily frowned at Hestia as she went back to Roger.

Hestia found Remus and Mary and voiced her vexations. "Are you kidding?!" Mary shrieked.

"What the bloody hell! I told him to do something!" Remus vociferated. "We let it alone and then this happens!" They group continued to talk in hushed, angry tones until Sirius came up to them and warned them that James was nearby.

"Good Godric, we can't let him see them!"

"Too late for that," Sirius said through his teeth. Everyone looked where Lily, Roger, and James stood awkwardly as Lily introduced them.

"I don't suppose it's that far of a bet that James will get jealous and finally do something, is it?" Marlene asked. Remus and Sirius both shook their heads.

"He's too chicken. Besides, he already feels like Lily is so far out of his reach," Remus said. When James joined them, they tried to distract him while he watched the pair like a hawk. In no time, he excused himself back to the castle and Remus, Peter and Sirius joined him.

"What the hell is she doing with him?" he muttered when they were out of Hogsmeade. Immediately he asked, "What do you guys say I ask out that Ravenclaw for next time?"

* * *

Later that week, Dorcas and Hestia were studying with Lily in the library. Lily talked a lot more than usual while she was studying, and it was about her date with Roger. He'd opened the door and pulled her chair out for her, she went on and on.

"Lily," Dorcas said cautiously, "I'm glad you had a great time, but did you guys talk?"

Lily paused, then nodded. "Of course," she said uneasily.

"About?" Hestia added.

"You know, school. His Quidditch practice and stuff. Actually, that's about all we talked about." Clearly, he had done all the talking, Hestia reasoned. She looked at Dorcas, who apparently had inferred the same thing.

"Great! So, how's James? I haven't talked to him in a while," Dorcas asked. Lily's face fell, but she started talking about him, and she had so much more to say, and mostly good things.

Dorcas and Hestia easily understood. Lily hadn't gotten over James, and it wasn't happening anytime soon. However, she could if this nonsense and tiptoeing continued.

Hestia knew this was getting bad. She pretended to finish her assignment, discreetly told Dorcas to stay with Lily, and excused herself to Gryffindor tower to "powder her face." She knew James was flying around with his teammates, so she ran to the boys' dorm, knocked twice, and opened the door. Amid the boys' protests, she shut the door behind her and said, "It isn't working. We have to be much more proactive about this."

After an hour, some Firewhiskey that Sirius kept in his trunk, and vexed talks, the plan was in action. James walked in the door, looked surprised to see Hestia there, and said hello as he walked to Sirius's bed.

Hestia, slightly intoxicated and still exasperated, pointed a finger at him. _"You_ _,"_ she slurred. "You insufferable prat, James Potter. I swear to Merlin - you are _beyond_ blind! You fu—"

"Okay, Hestia, he gets it," Peter said, putting a hand on her arm to calm her, but missing and brushing her shoulder. Hestia shrugged off his warning and stumbled over to James. Sirius followed her and she leaned on him for support.

"Me? What did I do? And how much have you had to drink?" James said defensively.

Hestia waved her hand to show how unimportant his questions were. "Doesn't matter," she said. "I'm so tired of seeing my best friend so upset because you apparently can't tell when a woman bloody fancies you, you dumb arse!" She swatted him on the arm multiple times. "LILY - FANCIES - YOU! YOU - ARSE! You're supposed to be smart!"

James drew back, shocked. What?

"What?" he echoed. Remus, more tipsy than usual, walked over.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, you - you…ugh! We've all been trying to get both of you to see it but you just won't! I'm bloody sick of your moping! And hers! Lily's my friend, too," he said.

 _"ALLL-SO!"_ Sirius hollered. "Here you go. True intelligence on this matter from her bloody best friend, James. Hestia, you tell him everything!" Sirius said, snaking his arm around her and pushing her forward a little. Hestia sobered up moderately and jabbed her index finger into James's chest.

"Owww," he whined. She pulled her hand back.

"James Potter, Lily's been complaining to me for at least a month about all of the hints she's dropped that you haven't taken. She gets so damn sad every time you so much as go off to dance with another girl. My Merlin. Do you know what it's like for me to have to deal with that all the time? She literally asked you if you were asking a friend to Hogsmeade that one time - and you didn't ask her! And you keep telling her how glad you are that you two are 'just friends' - bloody freaking hell, Potter! She's convinced that you don't like her and keeps moping around like a hound because there's nothing I can say to convince her that she should have just bloody asked you before going out with that bloke this weekend! Oh, yeah! She's set her mind on trying to get over you because she doesn't know you're bloody, hopelessly in love, you idiot! And she's not over you! She had so much more to say about you than that Leigh fellow! Ugh! I am so angry with you, you bloody prick!" Hestia ranted, before swinging her arms at James, who stumbled back as Sirius grabbed her.

"Hestia, calm down. He gets it. No use hitting him. He'll probably need his face soon," Peter said, seeing an immense look of relief wash over James's countenance.

"Lily…likes me?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"She's _hopeless_ , you thick prat," Hestia spat. "Now," she said, somewhat threateningly, "she's in the library with Dorcas. If, the next time I see her, she's still moping about you, I swear to Merlin, _nobody_ , and I mean _nobody_ will be able to put you back together!"

James stood still, his mouth hanging open. He looked to Sirius. "Is this true?"

"It is, you thick son of a banshee. I can't believe you haven't noticed by now." He let go of Hestia and walked over to James. "We wanted you both to figure it out on your own, but you're both too scared. For the love of Merlin, go and fix this now. I'm tired of seeing you upset about her when she's clearly feeling the same way. Go."

James didn't need any more convincing.

He ran out of the Gryffindor tower so quickly that he couldn't dare give any second thoughts about what he was about to do. _Please, be real, please be real, please, be real_ , he pleaded silently.

He got to the library and saw Dorcas, but no Lily. Out of breath, tie coming undone, and hair more disheveled than usual, he ignored Madam Pince and ran up to Dorcas' table. "Where's Lily?" he asked.

"Why?" Dorcas questioned.

"Not now, Meadowes, please, it's really important!" he begged. Dorcas raised her eyebrows, surprised at his outburst.

"She's in your common room," she said quietly.

"Thanks!" James exclaimed as he was running out, disregarding Madam Pince's scolding.

He burst through the portrait hole and tried to find his breath as Lily shot up from the common room couch and eyed him questioningly. "What happened to you?" she asked, confused.

"You like me?" he asked, both hopefully and disbelievingly. Lily's eyes widened. How had he found out? She knew there was no getting out of this one, not from the way she was sure her reddening face was betraying her. She prepared herself for his rejection as his eyes held a concerned trace. He looked like he would have to assure her that they could still be friends.

"Yes," she admitted softly, looking at her shoes.

James couldn't believe his ears. He took a step closer. He had to make sure this was really happening. "You fancy me?" he clarified. A lump formed in Lily's throat. She was about to cry, and thought of making an escape to her room. She couldn't answer him quickly enough. James felt she was taking an eternity to respond. He willed her to look at him, but she didn't.

"Yes," she said again, and, hugging herself, started to walk to her room.

"Where are you going?" James asked, rushing forward and grabbing her shoulder, turning her around. He didn't wait for her answer. A tear slid down her cheek, and he wiped it away with his thumb. "Don't go," he said as he held her face in his hand and angled it upward to he could lean down to kiss her. Lily's breath caught in her chest. She eagerly wrapped her hands around his neck, forcing herself impossibly closer to him, and kissed him back.

His other arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer, tightly against him. After several seconds, they broke apart and he pressed his forehead against hers. "Lily," he breathed, closing his eyes, his lips exploding into a smile.

"James," Lily exhaled, curling her arms around him and embracing him. The tear that hadn't been allowed to escape before ran down her cheek.

"I love you," he whispered, opening his eyes and wiping her face dry with his thumb.

"I love you, too."

* * *

Hestia, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Marlene, Mary, Alice, and Dorcas sat at the dinner table eating quietly. James and Lily soon arrived, and they were holding hands. They sat next to each other across from Hestia and Sirius.

Hestia noticed Lily's smile and glanced at James. "I guess I don't have to rip you to pieces now, do I?" Sirius cackled.


End file.
